Poll

Education

Seven staff members at Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen were laid off last week as the school works to balance its budget and deal with a decline in enrollment.

The furloughed staff members are two deans, a kindergarten teacher, an in-house substitute teacher and three aides. In addition, an unfilled position was eliminated when the school’s math specialist also took on the position of middle-school math teacher.

Less than a week after voters rejected ballot measures to recall two Platte Canyon school board members, board President Chet Lawrence has resigned his position and will serve out the remainder of his term as a general board member.

At the school board's monthly meeting Monday, Lawrence said a desire to focus his time elsewhere motivated his decision to resign.

Take a favorite book, mix in some pumpkins and paint, and the end result are book-character pumpkins.

The pumpkin characters including Harry Potter, Amelia Bedelia, Junie B. Jones and others adorned the bookcases in the Marshdale Elementary School library. In all, about 90 students took part in Pumpkin Palooza.

Parents of students affected by the turmoil at Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen — and all parents whose children are going through change — should watch for signs that the children aren’t handling the change well, mental health experts say.

They say communication is key, and parents should especially be good listeners as students might express their anger or frustration with changes they are experiencing.

The Jeffco school board has approved $20,000 in performance-based bonuses for Superintendent Dan McMinimee for his achievements during the 2015-16 year.

Announced at the school board’s regular meeting Nov. 3, the decision comes after a presentation by McMinimee at a special meeting of the board Oct. 20, during which he gave his thoughts on whether he had adequately achieved goals set a year before.

The school board at Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen on Wednesday night decided unanimously to fire executive director Roberta Harrell, and voted 4-3 to reinstate the six faculty members who were fired last week.

The board’s actions came after three hours of closed meetings to discuss legal and personnel issues. There was no public discussion regarding Harrell’s termination.

Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen’s new interim executive director began work Monday, less than two weeks after the school board fired Roberta Harrell from that position.
Dr. Gary Stueven retired in 2014 as principal of Platte River Academy, a Core Knowledge K-8 charter school in Highlands Ranch similar to RMAE.
He will serve as interim director until the end of the school year, and the board will begin a search for a permanent executive director — who acts as the school’s principal — in the spring.

A peer-mediation program at Wilmot Elementary is getting positive results as trained students help their classmates work through problems on the playground.

The program uses several steps and a peace path painted on the playground to help students work out their differences. The peace path has colorful footprints —made from a pair of principal Matt Cormier’s shoes — and students working out an issue move from square to square in an attempt to resolve their differences.